Flicking The Bipolar Switch

17052012

Been thinking that it may be time to go back to my origins a bit which means talking about Bipolar Disorder and medication. This has been prompted by an interesting little bit of news passed to me via Twitter (thanks to @Bipolar_Blogs who’s worth a look) regarding the two things that got me blogging in the first place.

This exciting bit of info? A report done by a group of Spanish scietists looks at treatment of depressive symptoms within those with Bipolar. If you look through the figures you see the efficacy of SSRIs seems to be less than not having them. However, more significant than this is the demonstrated rate for switching by the participants with those on anti depressants racking up double the percentage at nearly 80%. No matter who you are, that’s a big number.

Ok, I take all medical reports with a pinch of salt but even so, the news from this one is interesting and hopefully makes people listen to what’s happening. My own experience of SSRIs was almost fatal and was relatively ignored due to ignorance of this subject by doctors treating me. What’s also shown, at least according to the news report, is the use of anti depressants leading to a worse outcome for patients with regards to their illness.

Well isn’t that swell, but of course that doesn’t apply to me because… nope. I was going to get all sarcastic there but I shall desist because when things get so screwed up it may be a joke but it’s no laughing matter. Hopefully, regardless of everything else, this leads to some more interest in the details surrounding AD treatment for those with Bipolar. This report, along with my own experience, shows that people are being negatively affected by a medication they should not use but are being prescribed. I’m not saying it’s like that for everyone but there is gulf of ignorance that needs to be bridged for the sake of others.

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3 responses

Thanks for posting. I have been aware of this issue for the past 2 years but am surprised they are still doing studies about it. It’s so obvious to me (and I’m not trying to be all smartypants) that ADs would totally screw with bipolars. I mean, if we could control the damned cycles, then we could take something for each kind. But as it is, being depressed can change anytime and give us something like a jolt of soda and we’re headed down the track on the crazy train. It just makes sense to me that giving someone prone to ups as well as downs something that only helps the downs because it perks them up is really going to screw with the ups. anyway, rant over! 🙂

Yup, kinda logical that way, but then without evidence we won’t get doctors to change their mind on prescribing ADs so reports like this are still important. Remember, doctors aren’t fond of logic unless it’s proved by their colleagues 🙂